Notes / Commercial Description:
When you brew as much as we do, sometimes we get tired of telling the yeast what to do. For Apex Predator Farmhouse Ale, we pitch the yeast cold, turn off the temperature control, and let the yeast do it's thing. To our delight, it spat out the sweet scent of juicy fruit wafting from a frothy, white mane. Brewed only with grain and sugar unencumbered by the heat of the kiln, we create a hazy, golden body. Apex Predator gets its teeth from a generous Crystal dry-hopping that completes the dry finish with a fruity bite. Pounce on the opportunity to let it part your lips and you may find yourself at the top of the food chain.

This beer is the 2nd of 2 that a good friend of mine gifted to me. I had heard of Off Color prior to trying this one but had never actually had one of their beers. This beer features a bright, white head that is frothy in appearance and dissipates slowly to a rocky layer that is retained. The beer itself is cloudy and golden with a white beer like appearance. Low carbonation is visible. 4/5 The aroma is quite sweet and reminiscent of a Hefeweizen with notes of dried banana, clove, lemon fruit, earthy year, and sourdough bread. The aroma is very enticing and well rounded with both earth and sweet notes. 4.5/5 The flavor is very much like the aroma in that it is well rounded between sweet, earthy, and in this case, bitter. Dried banana sweetness leads off the flavor profile before transitioning to fresh French bread. A bit of white pepper, clove, earthy yeast, and wheat all come out in the middle before clover one and herbal hops make their appearance at the end. The bitterness is very light and does not linger on the palate. 4.25/5 There is a moderate carbonation burn up from that last for quite a bit. This beer is medium bodied and lightly drying but it does disappear entirely upon swallowing. Prior to disappearing it does seem to coat very nicely 4/5 This is an excellent Saison that is both complex and approachable. It is very satisfying to drink and comes off as more sessionable than the ABV would suggest. I don't often say this about Saison, but I will definitely return to this one. 4.25/5

Taste: Dry and soapy upfront with floral flavors of parsley, cilantro and the bitter taste of grapefruit. Spicy notes of white pepper here and there. There's a tart, orange, lemon and banana flavor to complement the bitterness, along with some sweet notes of bready malt and honey that play a supporting role in the background. Finishes spicy, dry and sweet.

Feel: The beer is unfiltered and the yeast floating around in the brew gives some weight to the body. Mid-heavy feel with low carbonation. Very quaffable and hearty.

Overall Comments: Bitterness, dryness and spice is kept in check by a subtle, bready malt bill with notes of honey. Well balanced and quite enjoyable. A very promising saison.

Might be their most mainstream of their bottled beers -- meaning mainstream for people who like saisons -- but the balances are right. Just enough sour, a little pepper, clean crisp finish. Linger of lemon drop, but not as pretentious as I make it sound.

Served in mid-July. Really an excellent brew and one that captures a lot of what's popular right now- haze and hops. This one drinks very similar to some of the NE-style pale ales out there, though there is definitely a pinch of that characteristic farmyard yeast adding a bit of funk, but certainly not much. I was impressed by how drinkable this beer was; even at 6.8% I wanted to have another. Great brew and recommended.

M: perfectly lighter end of mid-weight with some slickness and loads of carbonation to stop it from feeling heavy.

O: the most overtly tropical saison I've had. Less hoppy than Tank 7, and that's a good thing, but more complex. More "American" and
Less traditional than Hennepin, but perhaps better, in my book. Definitely worth buying regularly in the summertime.

Better than most beers out there. It is a classic farmhouse style ale, similar to a farmhouse saison, and pulls so many interesting characteristics from the hops. The fact that they can list literally all of their ingredients on the label is of course not to be overstated either. Overall an absolute legend of a beer, and to be honest, hoppy beers are 100% hype most of the time. Personal opinion.

Pours a hazy light tangerine color with a huge, fluffy white head that persists. Aroma is classic saison with bready malt, funk, fruit (mainly peach and orange), and light pepper spice. Taste follows with bread dough and wheat upfront, followed by a mellow funk and earth through the middle and the fruit and spice mix coming through in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium, a bit oily, but with enough carbonation to keep it crisp and dry. Overall, this is a very good saison that could compare with some of the standards of the style.

It pours a bright cloudy yellow with lots of head. Nose is lemony and spicy.

Taste is light and refreshing but has nice citrus peel and mild pepper influences. I find this one of my go to beers. I have had several now and just got around to putting a number on it. This is one of the best American Farmhouse ales. At least of those I have tried.

Pale amber color with a strong haze. Moderate head that leaves a couple vertical streaks of lace.

Very soft aroma of grass and mango.

The flavor reminds me of juicy-fruit gum initially. It evolves to cream, orange and mild hop bitterness. As far as Farmhouse Ale go, this is perhaps the softest I've ever had. I get pineapple in the swallow and mild sour berry and bitter rind aftertaste. In a word: complex.

Rated A so high because it never lost its head, retained and laced all the way down.
A - It's a cloudy pale yellow color, with a large foamy white head that always lasts and leaves a thick lace on the snifter.

T: The taste starts a tight citrus bite and and wild Belgian yeast. Wild animal. Even some dog body scent.

Then rambles in complexity. The citrus mixing with the yeast, the yeast with the malty grain, there's cider, there's a saison wildness, and the finish is bready and quite tart. Worth meditation and savoring

This batch seems to have more sulfur than I remember previous versions. Getting past the sulfur you get soft fruit flavors mixed with dough and yeast esters.

The taste of this saison is beautiful. Even though I pick up sulfur in the aroma, the flavor is what I look for in a saison with a more fruit forward taste. Melon, peach and lime come to mind while drinking this beer. Spicy phenols are blended well with the fruity overtones. The bread dough like grain flavor helps to keep the yeast in check.

Medium/thin body with a nice effervescents. Dry finish.

This is one of two Off Color Brewing beers I've been able to try and neither have disappointed. Highly recommended if you're a saison fan.

Bottle: Poured a blonde color ale with a nice thick white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of light rustic malt notes with some light floral notes and some lilac notes. Taste is also a nice mix of floral notes with light rustic malt and some lilac notes that are easily identifiable. Body is about average with good carbonation. Not bad though lilac notes do becomes a bit overwhelming.

Welcome to summer. Not the usual farmhouse ale. Almost IPAish. But wait, the carbonation, the yeast, the brightness, the peppery notes, yes farmhouse.

L: Yellow to golden haze
S: Yeasty, peppery spice, some citrus notes
T: Ooh ah, refreshing, bright and bold
F: High carbonation for no head, surprised
O: Will keep this in the fridge for the summer rotation

Draft pour to a shaker. No head, hazy, yellow, and significant lacing. Floral hop nose with citrus notes. Citrus flavors most present on palate with hops followed by slight bitterness. Medium body and carbonation. Well done.

Tried as I might, I could change my rating only slightly in a second re-tasting. The 3rd and 4th stayed the same.
Since Apex has some yeast bottle-conditioning, the tastings separated by 20 months indicate that Off Color's unorthodox yeast treatment is not affecting consistency.... an achievement for a young brewer.

While Apex's looks are no big deal (and I dislike the "Predator" name), the aroma is full of tropical fruits. The taste comes in about the same, but the hops eventually make themselves known... and the balance from the spice is just enough for my malt-preferring palate. The mouth feel is good drinking by itself and, typical of its style, this saison mixes up well with many of the garlicky, olive-oily foods that I eat. Despite everything that goes on in this ale, it finishes surprisingly dry.
Perhaps I buy 10 six-packs a year. Apex was one of them. And I'll probably buy this sixes again next year.
Kudos to Off Color. A ful gamut of flavors in one bottle.

2016, pours a cloudy golden yellow color with a very small white head. There seems to be good carbonation and some lacing. The odor for me is citrus tangerine, lemon, tropical fruit, passion fruit, slight melon, grassy, hay, slightly bread like. The taste for me is crisp, refreshing, grassy, hay, cracker, passion fruit, tangerine, herbal. A little dry bitterness on the backend.

I really enjoyed this beer. Hazy golden with minimal head. The smell hits all the right saison notes and the taste is crisp, Lightly tart and fruity, and finishes smooh and slightly funky. Fairly hoppy for a saison with citrus flavors coming out as it warms. Delicious. yb

Poured into a snifter.
A - Pours an opaque golden yellow color with a thick foamy white head that never completely goes away. Lots of lacing on the sides of the glass.
S - The aroma is citrus, almost like an IPA.
T - The flavor is very interesting as you get fruit up front, then a little bit of farmhouse funk, cracker and lemon followed by a peppery finish.
M - It has a light feel to it. Crisp and refreshing.
O - Very enjoyable and drinkable beer.